Noken is a knotted net bag or woven bag made from wood fibre or leaves, sometimes coloured and decorated. Noken is a traditional handcraft of all communities of Papua and West Papua Provinces, Indonesia. The day-to-day function of large size noken is for carrying plantation produce, catch from the sea or lake, wood, babies, small animals, shopping, etc., and for hanging at home to store things. Small size noken is for carrying personal effects such as betel nut, food, books, etc. Noken may be used to cover the head or body. For nearly all (275/311) respondents, noken is an accessory to their traditional dress, and according to most (290/311) is used in traditional ceremonies or celebrations, such as marriage proposals, marriage ceremonies, initiation of children, appointment of community leaders, welcoming guests and for keeping sacred heirlooms.. Among mountain communities, noken had been given along with other presentations to make peace between disputing parties. Drs. H. Rahimin Katjong, Deputy Governor of West Papua, recalled wearing a small noken containing betel nut etc at the time of his appointment as a traditional community leader at Fak Fak, West Papua. Nearly all (276/311) respondents explained that noken is used by all age groups, and most (282/311) observed that noken is used by both sexes. As soon as babies learn to walk, their mothers give them a small noken containing food such as sweet potatoes, thus instilling the habit of carrying one’s own needs, which may also be used to help others, inside a noken which is always close at hand. Three quarters of respondents (235/311) said that noken is generally made by women-- ”the Mamas of Papua”--usually adults according to most respondents (250/311). Women thus play a special role in safeguarding noken culture. At Epouto village in Paniai District, we found male orchid-noken craftsmen. Asmat community men also make noken. Most craftspersons make noken in their spare time from agriculture, fishing, and household duties, though some make noken full time. Noken making goes on yearround, but will increase in times leading up to traditional festivals. The method of making noken varies between communities. A basic outline is as follows. Branches or stems or bark of certain small trees or shrubs are cut, sometimes heated over a fire, and soaked in water for some days. After soaking, only wood fibre remains. The Dani/Hugula in Wamena peel bark from sticks of certain trees and then beat the sticks till only fibres remain. The wood fibre is dried, and then spun with the palm of the hand on the thigh of the craftsperson to make a strong thread or string, which is sometimes coloured using natural dyes. This string is knotted by hand to make net bags with various patterns and sizes. The same technique is used to make vests, hats, belts, etc.. In Paniai District we find noken interwoven with special decoration made from fibres from yellow, brown and black. orchid stems. Besides knotting, there are communities which make noken by weaving tree bark, wood fibre, pandan leaf, young sago leaf, or grass from swamps. Some select grasses with contrasting colours (Inanwatan, Metemani, Kais and Kokoda (Imeko) communities). Maybrat community craftspersons colour the fibres with natural colours. The fibres, leaves or grass are woven in various attractive patterns with symbolic meanings. To make noken requires great manual skill, care, artistic sense and inner satisfaction. Craftspersons often make noken while singing traditional songs of Papua. To become proficient in making noken takes up to several months of informal training. A skilled noken craftsperson will be much appreciated within her (or his) community. The diversity of making, wearing and use of noken continues to develop and be recreated as the response of the people of Papua to nature and their environment.

Indonesia 2012

Kopkari (ulaq, buzkashi) - a traditional equestrian competition among the peoples of Central Asia. Kopkari is usually held in spring or autumn, when weddings are traditionally celebrated among Central Asian peoples, as well as on the spring holiday - Navruz.

Traditional handcrafted textile rich in intangible cultural values, passed down for generations in Java and elsewhere since early 19th Century (Ref. Siksakanda, 1517AD), more widely since mid-1980s. all the steps in the making of batik are carried out by hand. The tools used to make batik are also made by hand. Firstly, the cloth must be washed, soaked and beaten with a large mallet. A pattern is drawn and dots and lines of hot wax are then applied to one or both sides of the cloth using a pen-like instrument called canthing tulis (direngsi/ngrengrengi). Alternatively there is the process of applying the hot wax to the cloth using stamps called canthing cap made of copper. The wax functions as a dye-resist. After this, the cloth is dipped in a dye bath containing the first colour. After the cloth is dry, the wax is removed by scraping or boiling the cloth (dilorod). This process is repeated as many times as the number of colours desired. For larger cloth, the wax is applied using a tool called tonyok (nemboki/mopoki). The details of the process vary between different areas. Batik patterns and motifs possess deep symbolism related to social status, local community, nature, history and cultural heritage. Expectant mothers wear batik; babies are carried in batik slings and touch batik with their feet when they first touch the ground; brides, marriage couples and family members wear batik; even corpses are covered with batik: all with appropriate patterns and motifs. Traditional dress includes batik, Batiks are collected and passed down as family heirlooms, each being a work of art with its own story. Batik craftspersons would fast and pray before making batik while meditating accompanied by traditional songs. It takes several days to make a hand-stamped batik, and at least 1 month to 1 year to complete a hand-drawn batik.

Indonesia 2009

There is a tradition to celebrate the customary event for cutting the child’s hair for the first time, and it is called differently such as “urevleg urgeeh”. Mongols do cut the boy’s hair in his 3 and 5 years old and girl’s hair in her 2 and 4 years old. The most respected (with compatible year sign) person or guest touches the child’s hair first with wooden knife. Accordingly, a bundle of hair is cut off with scissors with honorary scarf tied to its handle. A cup of milk is given to a child for taste, a bit of milk is applied to the child’s forehead and the well-wishing words of benediction are chanted. While the child goes around the guests from right to left, the guests cut off pieces of hair. Every one of them gives well-wishing words and presents.

Kharam is celebrated in all the villages under Tshenkhar gewog, Lhuentse Dzongkhag of Northeast Bhutan. In the local dialect, Tsangla, "Kharam" means "Gossiping negative forces”. Villages host the festive celebration to please the local deities, and to seek protection them from unforseen disasters for their crops, cattle, and fellow local people. They also pay homage to the local deities for protecting the people, yields and the domestic life of the country by natural calamities. The annual festive event is celebrated on 27th and 28th day of the 8th month of the Bhutanese calendar. The event is celebrated by performing ritual in the morning and consequently by performing boen choe “Bonism” by the communal people in respective locality and followed by traditional games like archery and khuru (dart) competition within the village. The main performer of the celebration is the Bonpo “Chant Leader” accompanied by all villagers irrespective of age. In the past, in the evening of the first day of the celebration, people used to ward-off the negative forces by hitting a rooster against a cow. However, now the community has stopped killing roosters and the symbolism was replaced using a feather. With the performance of Kharam, it is believed that the village will prosper and have good yield in that year with less mishaps in the community.

Fiji is blessed because of its rich and diverse culture and traditional protocol. The manifestation of these cultures and traditional protocols are embedded in the indigenous language. It is also embedded in the traditional protocol the ceremony of nurturing child. This ceremony expresses the love of the vanua towards a child; outlines the ways of the vanua on how a child should be nurtured and cared for. It seeks the blessing of the vanua toward the child so they may grow and have a prosperous life and serving their community.

A Bonkar (refined Bon religion that doesn’t involve animal sacrificial offering) traditional rite, Yak-lai is performed in some villages in Ura and Tang Gewogs (blocks) who owns la-nor (highland cattle) esp. Yaks. Colloquially, Yak-lai means ‘yak deity’ and if translated in Dzongkha (national tongue) it is called Yak Lha. However, the ritual is not strictly practiced by the Yak owners but, those households who owns tha-nor (normal cattle) also propitiate the god for prosperity of their livestock. The rite specifically invokes the yak deity Lha Wodue Gongjan, who is considered one of the principal deities of Bon who is believed the ultimate source of any blessings possesses supreme ability to fulfill the desires of worldly beings. Residents of Bumthang who have highland cattle, or otherwise practice animal husbandry take part in the three-day Yak-lai ritual every year. According to Bon tradition, Lha Wodue Gongjan is one of the nine principal deities; (sid pa chag pai lha gu) 1. Yabchen Wodue Gunggyal 2. Yarla Shambu 3. Nyenchen Thanglha 4. Gatod Jowo Chogchen 5. Machen Pomra 6. Jowo Yugyal 7. Kishod Zhoglha Chugpo 8. Shekar Jowo Tagoe 9. Tshanggi Noechin Gangwa Zangpo who are the creators of the world. Wodue Gongjan is known by several names: Ode Gungyal, Ode Pugyal, Pude Gungyal and Lhachen Gungyal. Amongst these deities, Ode Gungyal is described as the ancestor of all mountain deities and even he is regarded as the father of all gods and spirits dwelling in the world according to Samten Karmay, 1998. Culturally, residents of the Himalayas have long believed that the lofty snowcapped mountains that surround them are the dwellings of deities. In fact, the names of these gigantic peaks often reflect the name of the deity and thus mark these sites as sacred places. The designated holy peaks are called Lhachen Gangri Gu (Nine Majestic Mountains). In Bhutan, from the time immemorial, many elderly village residents who believes and practices shamanism rituals and rites share the traditional perspective that Lha Chenpo Wodue Gongjan is the principal god placed at the highest seat, and is highly respected by both the shaman and the yak herders as well as normal cattle herders on the day of Yak-lai. If he is invoked and propitiated, he will bless us with domestic animals, yaks, wealth, long life, cloth, favourable weather, and many other essential things that we want in life. Elders further shared that the most productive female yaks have the suffix jan (e.g. Kar-jan or Mar-jan) added to their names, the suffix being derived from the last syllable of Wodue Gongjan, which marks the animals as having been blessed by the deity, as manifested in their abundant milk. Yak-lai used to be widely practiced for three days within a range of dates; specifically, on the three most auspicious consecutive days between the 15th and 30th days of the seventh lunar month by the highlanders of Ura and Tang Gewogs, however, it is now at risk due to several factors including economic development, modern education, rural-urban migration, Buddhist influences, and prohibition on the usage of Tsam-dro (pasture or grazing land). With the advent of wider-scale development, nomadic people are increasingly attracted to the greater income potential of modern life, rather than rearing animals in the wilderness and living in a smoky hut. Over the last two decades, semi-nomadic communities started selling off their yaks in hordes, in part due to the pressures of migration and enrolling of children in schools. The cultural propensity towards Buddhism also influenced and discouraged Bon practices such as Yak-lai. Another factor in the reduced number of yak herders could be that the ownership of tsamdro and Sok-shing (woodlot) were taken away by the government. While the government claimed that tsam-dro had always belonged to the state given that Thram (land ownership) holders did not have to pay tax for it, the highlanders claimed ownership as inherited property. Without tsam-dros, most highlanders face a shortage of grazing land and are forced to either sell their livestock or set them free (tshethar) in the wild, thus affecting Yak-lai and other practices. Yak rearing culture among herders in Tang Gewog has diminished markedly in the last decade due to a gradual shift from yak rearing to dairy farming. The dairy breeds provide more advantages in terms of earning income and management aspects, but as a result of this shift, Tang highlanders have gone nearly a decade without performing the Yak-lai ritual. Similar trends have also invaded the highlanders of Ura Gewog. Elderly locals say that, until 2000 there were 3 households in Somthrang, 8 in Pangkhar, 3 in Ura and finally 12 households in Shingkhar community having highland cattle i.e. Yaks and performance of Yak-lai ritual was so vibrant at that time. At present, only one man, Meme (grandfather) Kungla 74 (Dragon) from Pangkhar village, owns yak while others have disappeared gradually in recent years but, some few households from Ura community are also the last standing practitioners of the tradition.

Held on the full moon day of January every year. The worshiped characters are King Miêu Tĩnh (Mạc Thái Tổ), King Cao Quyết, Saint Cao Sơn - King Qúy Minh. Ná Nhèm Festival is associated with the legend of fighting the enemy to defend the village and the cultural activities, games, and performances of the Tày people, Trần yêncommune, Bắc Sơn district on the full moon day of the first lunar month. During the festival, the young men participating in the procession all smear their faces with black paint to distract the souls of the enemy, as well as to prevent epidemics and disasters. Therefore, the Ná Nhèm festival is called the black face festival by the Tày people. The performance includes 7 contents: Mộc Dục; water procession; Procession of the royal throne and royal tablet from Mỏ village communal house to Xa Vùn temple; The performance of fighting with great swords, swords and offering gifts of two armies of generals of Ngô and Laos; the role of actor - farmer - worker - merchant, fisherman - woodcutter - cultivator - nomads; the general's Heavenly Lightning Spear; Procession of the King's throne and tablet from the temporary communal house to the Mỏ village communal house. Presided over by monks. The offerings are tree seedlings. The most unique is the performance of Hidden Silence - Moon Face - mascots that produce food energy. The ritual of offering offerings includes two mascot symbols of fertility: the mute (male fertility) and the moon (female fertility), to pray for many children and grandchildren to proliferate; Offering rice, corn, berries, etc to pray for an abundant harvest and for people to have a prosperous life. Ná Nhèm Festival has many contents related to the memory of King Mạc such as the custom of water procession - procession of the King, the custom of worshiping Grandfather Mạc Đăng Dung, hidden under the worship of the scimitar, the scimitar fighting performance at the festival, custom of offering offerings while shouting "long live"; The fact that the General borrowed the teachings to proclaim "Heaven gave birth to me"; the connection between the time of rebellion (1677) and the presence until the 14th generation of the Hoàng and Bế families at the door of Mở village communal house.

The Khen of the Hmong is made of Pơmu wood with 6 different large, small, long, and short bamboo pipes, symbolizing the gathering of brothers. There are two types of trumpet: long trumpet (high sound) and short trumpet (low sound). Khen is a wind instrument, used by Hmong people in many different contexts such as funerals, Gầu Tào festivals, fairs, weddings, etc. Therefore, the content of Khen songs has many topics, different songs such as the farewell of the dead soul to the ancestral world, the mourning of relatives with a slow, gentle, sad sound, the confession of love between a man and a woman, the blessing of a young couple with a fast, strong, cheerful tempo. Khen dance includes a number of basic movements such as raising legs, rotating in place, spinning in place, spinning in place and moving heel (on a large rotation and gradually narrowing in a spiral shape), bending over, playing with Khen, rolling on its side, rolling on its back, squatting dance, walking forward and backward in four directions, cock fighting, horse fighting, jumping and squatting, one hand patting the other leg, the sound of clapping must be heard while the sound of Khen cannot be stop. Taking the breath and forging the breath to make it deep and long is a special technique. At the age of 10, Hmong boys begin to be taught Khen dance techniques by their grandfather, father, or older brother. Hmong Khen dance can be performed solo to show off technique, or performed in pairs, triples, or collectively. Hmong Khen Dance can be combined with women's dances.

Knowledge and practices related to year seasons are the result of centuries-old observations of nature applied to the life. For many centuries and millennia, people carefully collected folk signs about nature. Every trifle, every natural phenomenon not even significant at first glance, could one day become a reliable harbinger of an important event in human life. Taking into account the relationship between certain natural phenomena, a person remembered them in the form of short acceptances, which over time were transmitted from father to son, from grandfather to grandson. Many of these will not lose their relevance to this day, and some have long passed into the category of superstition.

Sanjyra is the oral listing of ancestors on the straight male-line. It was compulsory for everyone to know his ancestors as the Kyrgyz identified themselves through a link with clan and tribe. Sanjyra provided answers to the questions such as: “Who are you?”, “Who were your father, grandfather?”, “From which family are you?”. That is why there is a saying: “Those who do not now their ancestors will become slaves”. The Kyrgyz genealogy consists of three large groups: right wing (on), left wing (sol) and the ichkilik (inner) group. Similar to many genealogies of other nations, it represents a sprawling crown of a tree (tree of life). Intertribal hierarchy was built on the male-line by giving the male names to the titles of tribal clans.

In this game one of players play the role of grandfather and Others play the role of grandchildren.